


To Hell and Back

by Layzhe_06



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass Katara (Avatar), Badass Suki (Avatar), Badass Toph Beifong, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Sokka/Suki, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Toph Beifong-centric, Toph Being Awesome, Torture, but not me, they rlly are too scared to hurt Toph
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:27:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25666660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Layzhe_06/pseuds/Layzhe_06
Summary: Toph is willing to do anything for her family.
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong, Aang & Toph Beifong & Katara & Sokka & Suki & Zuko, Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Katara, Toph Beifong & The Gaang, Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 5
Kudos: 100





	1. Break

**Author's Note:**

> They were too scared to hurt Toph. But not me, nope. 
> 
> Can you just tell I love Toph so much?

Her head was pounding. What just happened? 

Slowly, she sat up. Trying to feel around for some earth or metal. But all she could see were the extremely faint figures of her friends minus Aang through the wooden floors and the stone beneath. She could only assume that she was the only one awake since no one said a word. As she sat up against the wall of their wooden cell, she tried to slow down her heart that was racing out of fear. 

She tried to remember what happened the night before. Fighting, fire, heat, and then several jabs.

She was chi-blocked. But it didn't feel anything like that circus freak. Looks like chi-blocking goes further and deeper. Must've been common for non-bending fire nation folks. She sighed and tried to remember anything after the fight. Where was Aang? Where did they take him? Why was she the first to wake up?

Her thoughts were cut short as she heard the sounds of something creaking from her side. She tried to shuffle away but found it useless as her feet were held down and her hands were tied in front of her. "You're awake. You must really be as strong as they say. Yes?" Their captor asked her, striding his way towards her. 

"Get away from me if you want to walk out of here with a complete set of teeth!" She barked, wrenching herself away from the man. The earth below her was singing, speaking to her. Ready to obey her every command. But she had to wait for the right moment. "What are you going to do? Hit me? I'd like to see you try." "Oh, I'll hit you alright!" She yelled, swinging her bound wrists towards his face and hitting his cheek. Satisfied when she heard him groan. 

But she couldn't help but gasp when she felt his calloused fingers roughly grabbed her jaw. "You've got some spunk, huh?" He spat, and she just glared right at his face. He roughly let her jaw go and must've signalled for them to do something. "Oh well, enough dilly dally, get the waterbender. Let's finish this once and for all." Toph's eyes widened, "Wait!" The movement stopped. 

"Don't take her... Please." She begged, "So are you offering to take her place instead? It seems fair. The first and last metal bender, sacrificing herself for her dear friend." He mocked, "I can already see it in the history books." Toph bowed her head, fear rippling through her. But she couldn't let Katara die, metalbending could be discovered again, but waterbending had a thinner chance of survival. If Katara died, so would the art of Southern style waterbending. 

"So? Will you take her place? Unless of course, you wouldn't mind us taking the other girl. She had a lot of spunk to her too! Fought hard and well before we rammed a bat to her head! Or maybe this other peasant, he's a good sword fighter. Too bad he isn't good enough." He said, looking at her eyes filling with more fear by the minute. "Or maybe you'd prefer we take the banished prince? After all, he did try and capture you." He offered, and Toph broke her silence. She vowed never to let anyone hurt Zuko or her friends and if this was the only way to protect them, so be it. 

"Fine. I'll take her place..." She surrendered, her head dropping in shame and fear. "Alright. Men, you know what to do." He said, and she felt several jabs hit her back. She fell forward with a groan. Next thing she knew, she was being dragged somewhere else. "But don't worry. I'm not completely heartless! I'll keep you alive to say goodbye to your friends." He said, a smirk growing on his face as he walked over to their destination. 

Her breath hitched, she bit her lip in fear. "Oh just imagine our dear Fire Lord's happiness when he finds out we've officially broken the Avatar." He said, and she was thrown onto a wooden chair. "What are going to do to me?! Can't you just kill me?" "Now, where's the fun in that? I'd like to break you first, then I'll grant your wish." He replied, caressing her cheek in mockery. Toph squirmed away from his grip as she moved in the chair. 

"Quit moving around or else." He threatened, and she stopped. Her hands were strapped down the sides as well her legs and stomach too. "Now, the real fun begins!" He cheered, bringing up a hand full of flames, and bringing it down to her side, searing through the fabric and onto her skin. Burning her. She screamed, and he stopped when a hand shaped burn was present on her skin. It would heal, and wasn't nearly as bad as Zuko's. But it was enough to stay on her mind for sometime.  
\----  
Suki woke with a jolt. "Ow... My head." She groaned, rubbing her head. She looked around to see that they were in a wooden crate, in the middle of the woods. She looked around for any possible ways of escape but found none. The wood was too thick, they'd need one of the benders to wake up and set them free. She crawled over to Sokka and shook him awake. 

"Sokka! Wake up, please." She whispered, and he woke up soon enough. "Shit... My entire body hurts. I feel like an armadillo bear just chewed me up and threw me on the ground." He groaned, stretching his back, trying to relax his bunched muscles. But it was proved to be difficult since his wrists and ankles were tied together. It was hard to move from his spot so all they could do was try and kick the others awake.  
\----  
"Just... Stop... Please." She begged, her breathing labored with the knife buried into her thigh. She was shocked she'd lasted this long. "Tsk, should we get the water tribe boy then?" "No! Please no..." She yelled, her arms stung from the countless cuts on them. Everytime she'd nearly pass out, they'd slice her arm just enough that it would bleed. She feared she'd probably end up looking like a fish with too many gills at this point. 

She was met with another shock from the general as he sent a small streak of lightning through her veins. She threw her head back in pain, her whole body stiffened as the currents ran through her body. She screamed and sobbed endlessly. But she wouldn't let them hurt her family. "You like that? Or do you prefer we bring your friend instead?" "No! I..." "Yes?" She nodded her head, shutting her eyes tight. He pet her head like she was some sort of animal and had done something good for their owner. 

"Good girl." Oh, that's degrading. "I'm not some sort of pet." "Still a fiery one. You'd make a great firebender. Always full of passion! Too bad you're fire's already flickering... I'd love to see it last longer though. But this breaking thing is getting quite exhausting. Not to worry though, I'm sure I'm close to my victory!" He cheered, mocking her yet again. Suddenly, footsteps came running toward them. "Sir! The prisoners are trying to escape!" "What?! Well, did you pin them down?!" "Yes sir! Chi-blocked and down." He said, and their cruel captor only laughed. 

"It's time for a reunion then. I'm sure they'll be overjoyed to see your efforts in protecting them. I've heard you were quite the rebel." Whatever sense of dignity she had left had been thrown out the window. Her clothes were tattered and charred at the sides right below her bindings, her arms were littered in new and old cuts, her thigh had a fresh stab wound on it, and she'd turned into a begging mess.  
\----  
"Don't touch her!" Sokka screamed as they tied Katara up again. Katara was struggling against the guards but to no avail as they had her pinned down. She was chi-blocked and unable to move. Zuko was trying to get out of their grip but again, no avail. Suki and Sokka were pushed aside. Sokka wanted nothing more than to throw himself in front of his sister's paralyzed body to try and protect her.

"I'm surprised you haven't looked for your other friend yet. Does the blind one really matter so little to your group?" A man in a general's uniform mused, strolling into the cell with a sadistic smirk. "Well, that's quite a shame. She went through so much to keep you four out of harm's way these past two days. A strong girl really. If she were a firebender, I wouldn't doubt she'd be a powerful one. Unlike you." He said, taunting Zuko, whose eyes were widened in fear. 

What had they done to Toph? 

"I'm sure you'd like to see her now. She's... Doing well." He said, looking off to the side while shrugging. "Men, take them to the girl. Let's show them just how strong their friend truly is." He said, gesturing for the other soldiers to drag the others along. They all shared fearful glances for what they going to see. But the atmosphere was also filled with guilt. They were so caught up in escaping they didn't even think of Toph. 

They really were horrible friends. 

Once they'd arrived to where they were keeping Toph, her head was hung low. She was on the brink of losing consciousness. The others gagged at the sight. Toph had dozens of cuts on her arms and burn marks on her sides in the shape of hands. Some overlapping over the other, and her right thigh had a huge wound on it that would most likely scar. The pant itself was soaked in crimson. The general only shook his head in disapproval.

He walked over to her and slapped her across the face. She jolted awake, "Stop... Please." She groaned, unaware of the four people watching her with tears in their eyes. "That's no way to greet our guests! I thought you'd be more grateful we even let you meet them again." He said, and grabbed a small knife, dragging it over her right arm twice, both cuts were thin but deep enough to bleed. She sobbed.

"Are you grateful?" "V-very much... Sir." She panted, dropping her head low as tears dripped from her eyes. "You know, your friends were caught trying to escape. Usually, that would mean we'd punish them-" "Don't lay a hand on them! Please... Don't." She begged, but the general only nodded his head and punched Sokka's gut, he doubled over, wheezing. 

"Stop! Spirits please stop!" Another blow, "Stop! I'll let you do anything! Don't hurt him!" Toph cried desperately. "Anything?" She reluctantly nodded. "I have been wanting to try something new with you." Toph stiffened, "They did try to escape after all. Let's treat this as their collective punishment." The four onlookers shook in fear. What were they planning to do to their friend? 

The men pushed them onto the ground to keep them from moving. Forcing them to watch. 

The general emerged from the corner with three pieces of fabric in hand. He rolled one up into a ball, shoving it Toph's mouth. "Since you're so damn noisy." He spat, and wrapped another piece of cloth right on top of her mouth to keep it there. The last he used to block her of her last airways through her nose. He was going to suffocate Toph and her own friends couldn't do a single thing about it. 

Toph was still for a moment, not moving, but obviously stiff. She could hear the pleads her friends were yelling, but they began to fade, the world around her felt like a blur. It was so similar to the time she nearly drowned in Serpent's Pass. "Stop it! She's going to die!" Suki "Let her go!" Katara "I'm going to kill you... I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Sokka "You BASTARD!" Zuko. She loved them so much, but she was regretful she'd never be able to show it as much. 

"I'd like to see you try." The general grinned darkly. He went behind Toph, who began to thrash around in her seat. He began to laugh, taunting them as he stood behind her. "Like I said, we're going to break you all one by one!" He cackled, Toph threw her head back, her eyes shut so tight. Her body began to shudder, her chest was growing tighter as her throat felt raw. Her jaw ached, everything hurt. Her body was becoming more and more aware of the pain she'd endured. "She's just a kid!" Suki tried to reason. "If she can fight... She can bleed." 

She'd be damned if they thought she'd never do it again. She'd be willing to go to hell and back to protect the people who set her free. 

She thrashed around as she tried to scream. But it came out as a shrill whine or a whimper. The general was laughing hysterically. "MONSTER!" Katara yelled, she was crying. Toph could tell from the waver in her voice. "You fucking BASTARD! LET HER GO!" Sokka barked, writhing on the ground. "Please... Stop!" Suki pleaded, her voice laced in anger and fear. "I'LL MAKE SURE YOU BURN ALIVE!" Zuko threatened. Toph could feel her body begin to give up. She was losing this fight and she knew it. 

Suddenly, a hand wrapped around her throat. Their insistent begging and threatening became louder. "Limb by limb." He said, and suddenly another current ran through her body. Their voices, were growing hoarse, throats raw as they begged him to stop. Her head was thrown back, her body spasming uncontrollably, she didn't even notice the gust of wind from above as she drifted into unconsciousness. Her world turning numb as she floated in darkness.  
\----  
"TOPH!" Aang screamed, had his chakras not been blocked, he would be in the Avatar state by now. He'd been looking for them everywhere, they barely left a track behind them, but when he heard his friends' screams, he knew he'd found them. He quickly undid the ties on his friends' extremities and let them hold off the soldiers. 

He ran to Toph's unconscious body and caught her when her top half leaned into his arms. She'd been bleeding everywhere, her face was a pale purple, and her body was taking shallow breaths. "I've got you." He whispered to her unconscious body. He turned and saw his friends mercilessly beating up their assailants. Katara had been bloodbending with no mercy, Zuko had burned a few of them alive, Sokka was sliding a sword he'd found lying around through their bodies, and Suki was beating up her fair share of soldiers. 

He called for Appa and when he landed just a foot away from the scene they all ran for it. Appa must've sensed the atmosphere and let out a sad groan before leaving the forest. They laid Toph down on the saddle, Katara desperately healing her as her breathing was still shallow. Tears brimmed her eyes as she'd also gotten a feel of every single thing Toph had gone through just for them. 

They all felt incredibly guilty. 

Aang cursed himself for not finding them sooner. He really was a failure of an Avatar. The other four were constantly haunted by Toph's heartbreaking pleads and cries, or the sight of her accepting her fate, or just her writhing and thrashing around on the chair. They cried, trying to erase whatever memory of the night was left in their minds. 

The cuts had healed and it was as if nothing was ever there. But the burns were a different story. While they would heal, the overlapping points would stay as scars. And so would the stab wound on her thigh. "Toph... Please... Stay alive." Katara begged, gripping Toph's hand tightly. She brought her cold calloused hand up to her cheek as tears streamed down. "I'm so sorry." She sobbed. 

The others had wrapped their arms around Katara and Toph.


	2. Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her eyes open. She trembles in his arms.

They arrived to the royal family's old summer house that night. At first, they were reluctant. But eventually realized that they didn't exactly have any other choice and Toph needed to rest. So they trusted Zuko and stayed. Finally, they gently laid Toph on the bed, Zuko volunteering to stay and watch. "I owe it to her." "We all do, Zuko." "Yeah but... I just need to have some time alone with her." They nodded in understanding and left Zuko alone. 

He couldn't say anything. Even if he could, he didn't know what to say. His brain was in a frenzy of emotions. So, he just held her hand, warming up his own to try and regulate her body temperature. The purple color had faded from her face but she was still paler than usual. The entire time he'd been forced to watch Toph being suffocated in front of his eyes, it felt like he was feeling just a fraction of her pain. Tears were flowing freely from his cheeks as he saw her thrash around, and then his throat went raw as he watched her body spasm uncontrollably. He wanted nothing more than to hug her and just... Erase the trauma in her brain. 

She was a fighter.  
But she was also just a child. 

His eyes were beginning to close when all of a sudden he felt Toph jolt. "Toph?" She began to squirm, "Toph?!" She was whimpering... "Stop. Don't... Hurt... Them. No! No... Hurt me! Not them, stop! Stop it! No! No! NO!" She screamed, shooting up and gasping, clutching the blankets in an iron grip. "Toph! Calm down..." Zuko soothed, but Toph only inched away from him. "Get away from me! Please! Don't touch me! I-" But Zuko didn't listen, he wrapped his arms around her trembling frame. "Toph... It's me.. Zuko."

Toph froze, "S-sparky?" She mumbled, and Zuko gave her an affirmative hum. And Toph leaned into his touch, sobbing. "It hurts." "What?" "Everything." She sobbed, "It hurts!" She screamed, latching onto his shirt. "Make it go away!" She begged. Zuko's heart hurt, he couldn't make it go away. He wanted to make it go away, but he didn't know how. "Breathe, Toph. Just breathe." He whispered, cradling her in his arms. And she did, but then it escalated, and she ended up hyperventilating. 

"It hurts." She croaked, squeezing her eyes shut, leaning further into him. "Shh... Count with me, okay?" She gave him an affirmative nod. "One two three four five six seven eight nine." "...six seven eight nine." "Good. One two three four five six seven eight nine." He said, and Toph followed, taking deep breaths. They went on for three more rounds before her breathing was back to normal. "Why did you do it?" Zuko asked, and Toph winced. 

"Sorry... If you don't want to-" "I couldn't let them kill Katara." She whispered, "Then why you? Why not me?" "I can't let them hurt any of you... You all matter too much." "And you don't?" "I do. But I'd never forgive myself if I let them hurt you." "But they did." Her breath hitched. "W-what? But-" "They hurt you, and we couldn't do anything to stop it. Had we not tried to escape, that probably wouldn't have happened. It's our fault you got hurt." "You couldn't have known." "Still!" He countered, but Toph shook her head. "No. It wasn't your fault!" "We couldn't protect you." "It's a war, people get hurt." "Children aren't supposed to." "Everyone here is still a child. You're the oldest and you're like... Sixteen. Zuko, this war has hurt everyone." "You don't deserve it though." "No one does." She replied, sighing. 

"Did it scar?" "Just the burns, and the stab wound." "So, the cuts are healed?" "Yep. It's as if nothing ever happened." Toph's hand drifted to her side, running a hand over the small oval shaped scars. "Why are they so small?" "The only parts that will scar are the ones that overlapped." "Oh." "Yeah... Pretty badass huh?" Toph shrugged, "I guess." "Oh come on. Now, we really are siblings, both burned by the fire nation." He tried to joke, and Toph chuckled. 

"Yeah." She whispered, and soon she was asleep again. This time, she had a peaceful expression on her face. Zuko let himself hold her, fearing that if he let her go, she'll disappear. Zuko cried silently, he held her in his arms and fell asleep with her. When dawn arrived, Katara silently entered the room to tend to Toph's wound. Her heart broke when she saw Toph curled up in Zuko's arms, so she sat on the chair and waited for them to wake up. Toph had probably already woken up the night before. 

Katara couldn't sleep the entire night. Toph's heartbreaking screams still haunted her. Shaking her to her core, creeping up on her like hands wrapping around her neck, it was as if she was the one being choked, not Toph. She went through all that to save them. That man truly was a monster. How dare they hurt a child? And he didn't even have a single bit of remorse. She looked him in the eye as she bent his blood, tears of pain and anger that felt so similar to the time she'd seen her mother's dead body. The anguish she'd felt when Toph's body went limp was a sensation she hadn't felt in a long time. 

When she heard Toph's groan, she sat up. Relieved to see her gently sit up from the bed. "You're awake." She whispered, gently approaching Toph. "Katara." Toph gasped, she didn't care about any disputes they had in the past and immediately hugged Toph. "You're finally awake." Toph gently wrapped her arms around Katara, a tired smile on her face. "You saved me." Toph whispered, "No... You saved us." "Psh, nothing I can't take. I'm the greatest earthbender in the world!" Katara laughed, crying tears of joy. "You really are." She replied, and soon Zuko woke up when Katara was in the middle of tending to Toph's wound. "You wanna join us for breakfast?" Katara offered, and Toph nodded. "Alright, I'll call you when the food's ready." She replied and left the room with Zuko. 

Toph was left alone in the room, and she didn't mind. She took her first step, wincing a little as the dull ache of her wound hit her, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. After a bit of walking, she was able to ignore it. Curling her toes into the ground, she finally got a clear vision in what seemed like months. She could feel them walking around, Aang was in a larger room meditating, Sokka and Suki were sparring outside and Zuko and Katara were cooking food. Toph smiled tiredly again, she was finally home. After changing out of her sleeping clothes and into her fire nation regala, she waited, bending her meteor bracelet into many different shapes. 

A knock on the door signified that the food was ready and it was time to eat. She made her way outside and up to their small group. "Hey guys." She greeted, and two pairs of footsteps came running up to her and suddenly she was lifted off the ground. "You're awake!" Aang said, jumping up and down giddily, and Sokka was busy hugging her. "Can't... Breathe." She wheezed, and Sokka immediately set her on the ground. "We thought you were a goner." Sokka cried, sniffing back the tears. Toph could only laugh, "I'm the greatest earthbender in the world, it's gonna take more than that to kill me." She said, giving both boys an affectionate punch that had them groaning. Breakfast was... Happier than usual.

Aang was telling her the adventures they had on Kyoshi Island before she came around, Sokka was musing about how, awesome Suki was, Suki herself joined in on the story telling. Eventually, they finished their food and Sokka offered they go to the beach to have some fun, Toph agreed and joined Sokka. 

"Why did you do that?" Sokka asked, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I owe to you guys." "Psh, you don't owe us anything. You've saved our lives too many times." "That was a group effort." "Well, yeah... But you're too essential to the group. What if you'd died?" "I would've lasted longer than that." "What if he just killed you on the spot?" "I would've atleast felt better than letting them take Katara." Sokka paused, "What?" "They threatened to take Katara. They were so close to killing her. But then I bargained... They decided it would be easier without metal bending in their way and accepted." Toph explained, "What did they do to you?" "At first it was just Aang, but then it escalated to all of us." "What do you mean?" "They wanted to 'break' us." Sokka tensed, he'd heard his father say that before about their men. 

"Break?" "Yeah, and y'know, a part of me thinks, they actually succeeded." "What do you mean?" "You know the normal me wouldn't be so... Open to what they did. I'm a defiant person by default." Sokka slowly analyzed, and he gulped. "I'm sorry." "Psh, I couldn't let them hurt you." "You could've found another way." "Nah, everytime I'd try they'd bring in one of you." She shrugged, "Threatened to replace me. But I said no, it's the least I could do." "Most." Toph shrugged. Sokka remembered how he saw her bravado break, the tears, the fear, the way she looked so desperate to take away his pain. "I'm sorry." "Will you quit-" "We barely thought of you. So caught up in trying to escape, we weren't thinking straight." Toph stayed quiet. "We were going to find you once we got out!" He added, "I knew you guys were." Toph smiled sadly. "Besides, if you left me there, I would've haunted your brains out the moment I died." Toph mused, crossing her arms as she kicked a small stone into the water.

They listened to the waves crashing against the rocks, basking in the sun's rays.

"I'd do it again." Sokka turned his head, "You guys brought me everything I always wanted. Freedom, family, love." She said, "Toph..." "I'd be willing to go to hell and back to protect all of you." "So would I." He replied, "Thanks." "For what?" "Protecting my sister and a part of my culture." "No problem. No doubt Sugar Queen would've done the same thing if she was in my situation. It's what family does." Sokka looked over to her, and she punched his arm. "It's what family's for." He said, rubbing the sore spot on his arm. 

Tougher than stone. That's who Toph was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit show 2.0 hahaha hope you guys liked it! Feel free to leave comments and stuff :P

**Author's Note:**

> "If she can fight, she can bleed." <\- That's actually a line I got from the fic called 'Fight' by Electrons! Please go check their works out! It's a great book :)


End file.
